This invention relates to improvements in devices used to support a motorcycle frame during initial assembly of the motorcycle at the factory and, in particular, to an apparatus in the nature of a clamping fixture which is secured to a production line conveyor and stably supports a supported motorcycle without interfering with complete assembly of the components on the motorcycle frame.
In the assembly line manufacture of motorcycles, the typical practice at present is to provide an overhead conveyor from which cradle-type carriers are suspended at spaced intervals along the run of the conveyor. Each of the carriers supports the frame of a motorcycle during assembly as the conveyor moves the carrier down the assembly line at a slow speed and the various parts of the motorcycle are assembled to the frame. Stabilization is not provided, however, and thus the frame during assembly is free to swing while technicians are assembling the motorcycle. Furthermore, the carrier interferes with complete assembly of the motorcycle while it is on the conveyor. This requires that the vehicle be removed from the carrier at the end of the assembly line in a partially assembled condition, and creates the inconvenience of a subsequent procedure to install the remaining parts and complete the assembly of the motorcycle unit.